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Patrick Abbattista -

Riccardo Capuzzo -

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Riccardo Capuzzo and Patrick Abbattista -

How many people were involved in the creation of Design42Day? How long did the website take to set up?

Patrick: Design42Day was created in 2007 as the brainchild of Riccardo Capuzzo. Initially, it was a blog that – more for pleasure than business – showcased a selection of projects from around the world, both by established designers and emerging talents. From the start, the common thread was respect for the precise criteria of beauty, functionality and originality that its creator applied, and still applies, to design. I joined the project in 2010. I bumped into Riccardo again almost by chance after 20 years (we were at nursery school together). He told me about the project and we decided to develop it together. Over the last two years, the blog has been transformed into a platform focusing on international design.

What does innovation mean?

Patrick: When you innovate, you take a step beyond the Pillars of Hercules. There’s no innovation if there’s no disorder, if you don’t cross into the unknown. The public, whether it’s offering a service or a product you’re offering, has to see that there’s been a break with the past. You have to come up against something unexpected, something that pushes you to learn. Very often innovation is in the air, or expressed in words, but it’s real only when it takes shape and anticipates and satisfies a latent need, perhaps one that wasn’t perceived before.

Could we say that design is the form of artistic expression that’s most representative of the contemporary world?

Riccardo: Design has always represented the contemporary world: when you analyse the objects in common use throughout history you come to understand people’s habits and customs. These are habits that have evolved – they’ve changed through external influences and have mixed with other cultures. As with Darwinian evolution, objects like chairs and forks have undergone changes, adapting step by step to external conditions. You can understand the history of the world’s countries by studying wars and treaties, but to understand people’s private lives you have to look at design because, since ancient times, it’s been the most representative expression of the contemporary world.

Which brands take the biggest risks when it comes to creating innovative ideas?

Riccardo:Innovation is a trend that can differ from one country to another, or vertically within the smallest company, depending on who is taking the biggest risks. It’s the ability and the courage to go against the current and look beyond the present. One example among many is Apple: at a time when MP3 players were ever more complex and had endless buttons and functions, the company from Cupertino launched a player with a single button. This was only the start of the many innovative products that Apple has given us. From the point of view of the graphic interface too, the brand raised the common standard: they didn’t only design interfaces that were simpler and more attractive, they forced the competition to do the same.

Which of the three fields of fashion, architecture and design manages to be the most innovative?

Riccardo: Innovation in the design industry is connected to entrepreneurial risk-taking. The more the project requires investment, the more you try to please the public rather than bringing innovation to market. So it’s natural that designing a building in a way that people aren’t used to has become something that’s very rare. I would say that fashion is the sector that takes the greatest risks, also because it’s more changeable. A car or a TV is a more "permanent" object.

Do you think that being innovative is closely linked to being young?

Patrick: More than being young in the literal sense, I think it has to do with what makes young people great innovators – their intolerance for set patterns, their desire to get somewhere, their curiosity and their natural appetite for risk, seeing as they often have nothing to lose. It’s easier to innovate if you don’t have mental boundaries and aren’t bound by established rules, rather than if you’re continually looking for something different in an environment you’re already a part of. The young know how to do it very well because they are at a stage of life where all this is "spontaneous". Anyone who really wants to innovate should learn to adopt the same point of view and experience it directly: it goes beyond age.

Riccardo: The Dutch architecture studio UNstudio is definitely one of my favourites. Its designs use modern, futuristic lines without seeming artificial or unnatural. Singapore’s Ministry of Design is another architecture studio that I think is very interesting. Moving to interior design, Samuele Mazza is definitely one of the most talented designers. He’s able to work with the most advanced luxury and give it a touch of modernity, and he always adds something unexpected that completes the work. When it comes to product design, I like Norman Copenaghen very much. I think this is the firm that best represents Nordic design: it’s clean and simple, but also warm and welcoming. For fashion, Aquilano.Rimondi, Iris Van Herpen and Haider Hackermann.

What was the most innovative object created in 2011? What was the most useful? What was the most beautiful?

Riccardo: The Flux Chair was an innovative idea – this was a very light lounge chair that folded up like origami. I’d point to the Plumen as the most useful object. This is a low energy consumption bulb that furnishes a room like a chandelier. When it comes to beautiful objects, there have been a lot. One that struck me in particular was the Peipod, a kennel for small animals, which has the simplest of designs: it’s essentially an egg open on one side. It’s classic furniture that looks good wherever you position it – I hope that the animals are comfortable inside it.

Can you give us some suggestions for must-visit design blogs (apart from design42day obviously)?

Riccardo: I’d put Thecoolhunter.net in first place. They make excellent selections of projects. Another extremely interesting site is Behance.net: it’s a social network for designers where you can publish your own portfolio. I use it as a blog and visit it every day to see if there is any new interesting work. For fashion, you absolutely have to visit Notjustalabel.com and Muuse.com.

Do you think that blogs or websites are an important way for young professionals in this field to launch themselves?

Patrick: Yes, but they’re not the only one, partly because not all blogs and sites enjoy the same credibility and prestige. And it’s important not to lose sight of the physical dimension of things. It’s very important to use new channels of communication, which provide many more opportunities, but young professionals have to learn to promote themselves through public relations, by taking part in national and international events and by listening to the market and expert opinion, so they can learn to market their talents to the best. Unfortunately – above all today – it’s not enough to be good: you have to get noticed. There’s strong competition that’s well-trained and wants to make an impact. In our case, when we identify talented young people, we try to support them in any way we can. Showing that if you’re talented you have opportunities is a duty we owe to our public.